Asia: Bahrain: Series race one report

Kamui Kobayashi leads Dams one-two
The Japanese won the feature race today in Bahrain ahead of teammate d'Ambrosio and
Arden's rookie Edoardo Mortara.
Kamui Kobayashi once again displayed great driving skills as he stormed from ...

Kamui Kobayashi leads Dams one-two

The Japanese won the feature race today in Bahrain ahead of teammate d'Ambrosio and
Arden's rookie Edoardo Mortara.

Kamui Kobayashi once again displayed great driving skills as he stormed from fourth to second at
the start before putting pressure on race leader Hulkenberg and overtaking him in a stellar
manoeuvre. He crossed the finish line in first position for the second time this season, 5.8
seconds ahead of his teammate Jerome d'Ambrosio. Both men offered Dams their first one-two in
the GP2 Asia Series.

Thursday's sensation Nico Hulkenberg made a good start from pole position and led the race in
the early laps, but the ART rookie had to cope with Kobayashi's pressure as the Japanese stayed
glued to the German's rear win. Hulkenberg contained Kobayashi as long as he could, locking his
wheels on several occasions, but eventually, he had to give up as the Dams driver made a strong
move and overtook him at the end of the straight line on Lap 13.

Four laps later, the ART driver was the first of the race leaders to make his mandatory pitstop, but
he lost a bit of time because of a problem while changing his right rear tyre. This unfortunate
incident pushed him back in fourth place, and promoted Dams' d'Ambrosio and Arden's Mortara
respectively to second and third. Even though the Belgian struggled at the start of the race, he
fought his way back from fourth, overtaking a competitive Mortara before coming into the pits.
With the two Dams leading the race quite comfortably, the Italian had to keep an eye in his rear
mirror as Hulkenberg tried to fight his way back onto the podium, but to no avail: Edoardo Mortara
secured his first GP2 podium.

Behind them, Davide Valsecchi and Sergio Perez animated the rest of the pack: the Durango
driver worked his way from tenth to fifth - overtaking his closest rival Piquet's Rodriguez on lap
30, and the Campos ace recovering from a disappointing 13th place to 8th, meaning that the young
Mexican will start on the reversed pole tomorrow. Giedo Van der Garde at GFH iSport will join
him on the front row.

Kamui Kobayashi crossed the finish line almost 6 seconds ahead of his teammate. The Toyota
F1's third driver signed once again the fastest laptime in a 1:43.604, adding an extra point to his
ten-point win. He has extended his lead to 11 points on Rodriguez. Davide Valsecchi is still third,
only three points away from the Piquet driver. Jerome d'Ambrosio stands now fourth in the
driver's championship.